Current Events > Anyone interested in learning networking?

(+) Yeah! (+)

8 years ago, I didn't know jack shit about networking, network administration, or network engineering, but I ended up getting a job at a NOC and started studying for Cisco certs... It has served me extremely well. I still have my old study materials that I can share if someone is interested.

It's a lot of information and can seem overwhelming, but the key is to learn little by little and you'll eventually get it. Just don't give up when you have setbacks like failed exams or if life gets in the way for whatever reason. Gotta keep pushing.

My network-specific career path:

Hired at a network operations center (NOC) in November of 2012.
I started studying for the CCENT (not sure this exists any more) in May of 2013.

August 2013: CCENT certification obtained
Decemer 2013: CCNA Routing and Switching certification
July 2014: CCNA Security certification

About 9 months later, I was promoted to junior network engineer. It was my first salaried position.

At this point, I was going to go for CCNP Routing and Swtiching, but Cisco was just then coming out with new CCNP exams, so I decided to wait about 6 months for the study materials for the 3 exams to come out.

February 2016: CCNP Routing and Switching certification

I then got a job at a company as a solo network engineer. It was challenging, rewarding, and paid more than any job I had before. I quit that job in December of 2019 for this new network engineering job at a grocery store company. I'm now part of a team of network engineers and I don't work long hours at all any more. With this kind of job, there will always be situations where you'll have to work at night to do changes/upgrades/etc., but my life is so much better these days.

So yeah, if anyone is interested in getting started, I can share the study materials I have with you and answer questions that you have along the way. Network engineering is a lot of responsibility, but it's very rewarding for the most part.

Also, Cisco just recently came out with new exams in February, so you wouldn't have to worry about an exam refresh for at least a few years.

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What about da PAY doe
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Yeah but I don't have the time to deep dive into it between work and shitposting online

Though it would probably help me a bit for work related stuff

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I'm happy to let networking folks like yourself manage that. Same with people who learn low level kernel stuff. It's impressive and I'm glad people are into it, but it's just not my thing.

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Sounds nice. But you started this journey by getting hired and then went from there?

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Is networking as janky as it seems? Whenever I work with our network engineers, shit always seem so inconsistent and crazy.

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MedeaLysistrata posted...

Sounds nice. But you started this journey by getting hired and then went from there?

I was studying on and off for the CCENT before I got hired at that NOC, but I was never serious about it. Having the job at the NOC definitely helped because it gave me exposure to actual enterprise networks like Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia), Dell, Experian, etc.

You can use network simulators like packet tracer to follow along with the material, though. You can also opt to buy real switches and routers to practice with.

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How common is the 2 AM "it's broken come fix it" call?

V-E-G-Y- posted...

What about da PAY doe

Right now I'm making $97k base salary with a 10% annual bonus. Not sure I'm going to get the full 10% this year because of the COVID-19 stuff, but... we'll see how it goes.

I dropped out of college after my 1st year, so I don't have a degree.

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jeffhardyb0yz posted...

How often do you work? Are you always working from home?

hows the lifting going since quarantine started

Right now I'm exclusively working from home because the company doesn't want the digital team in the office at all unless we have to be there.

Lifting has pretty much stopped. I have some dumbbells, a jump rope, and a big cooler that I can use as a weight bench, but I've never been great with working out by myself. I miss the crossfit gym a lot.

Even when the gym opens up, though, I'm going to wait for the new cases per day in Texas to die down before I start trying to go again.

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CableZL posted...

Lifting has pretty much stopped.

Consider joining Balrog's fitness general he started since quarantine. It's been a good resource for at-home routines and motivation:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/78654014

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Rexdragon125 posted...

How common is the 2 AM "it's broken come fix it" call?

It kinda depends. If you're the only network engineer at a company, those kind of calls can range from almost never happening to happening multiple times per week/night. I was the only network engineer at my old job and it was pretty chill at first because the company only had 2 to 4 buildings and about 350 employees but... The company started expanding like crazy without expanding IT enough, so I ended up being the only network engineer with about 1000 employees spread across 14 buildings or so. Things got really hectic toward the end. I was begging them to give me help because I was constantly working 60, 70, 80 hour weeks. They didn't want to hire anyone, so I asked for a raise to make working that much at least a little bit more tolerable. They didn't give me the raise I asked for, so I quit and went to this new job.

At THIS job, though, we don't work long hours. I'm in a team of ~15 network engineers. The company has about 130,000 employees and hundreds of locations, but there is a ton of support infrastructure in place for us.

For example, at my old job, I was responsible for (this won't even be everything):

1) Network administration

• Configuring and adding new switches/routers/etc.
• Troubleshooting network problems for individual users and the company as a whole. If a user's phone isn't connecting to the network, I had to fix that. If people in the office can't get to Google or Spotify because the global traffic headed to those destinations is getting routed to China (real incident), I had to find a workaround for that.
• Coordinating ISP installs. This often involves correcting the ISP on their bullshit that they try to pass off as "not their issue."
• Coordinating circuit turn ups for those ISPs
• Network-adjacent things. If a random device needed to be set up on a network (SONOS speaker... pain in the ass to set up in an enterprise network, time clocks, etc.), then you may or may not end up being responsible for the management of that device as a whole.
• Working with and following up with ISPs to fix service outages. They often want to send someone to the site to troubleshoot and you may or may not be able to give them permission to do the work during the day.
• Coordinating with construction teams for network installation at new locations
• Configuring firewall rules
• Setting up VPN tunnels within the company and to 3rd parties like Azure, Google Cloud, and AWS.

And a lot more than that...

At this new job, I'm pretty much solely focused on network infrastructure configuration and deployment. There is a whole team of people who handle wireless configuration and troubleshooting. There is a whole separate team that handles firewall configuration and even network security configuration on the network infrastructure that I work with. There are teams and teams and teams of people by region who handle shipping equipment to locations, physical rack & stack, cabling adds and changes, etc. We also have an offshore overnight team to handle the vast majority of the problems and minor network maintenance that happens overnight.

So I normally don't work more than 45 hours per week these days.

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You work for HEB?

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Buzz Killjoy posted...

You work for HEB?

Yup

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Nice. A friend of mine works for a company that was contracted to build their mobile app for a few years, think they don't have that project anymore.

He used to joke that they took over from a team of literal bagboys that were promoted internally.

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Buzz Killjoy posted...

Nice. A friend of mine works for a company that was contracted to build their mobile app for a few years, think they don't have that project anymore.

He used to joke that they took over from a team of literal bagboys that were promoted internally.

That's a lot of people within the organization. It was kinda surprising to me to find out that a lot of people on this company have only ever worked at HEB and started out bagging groceries and stocking shelves.

There are people all over the organization who have been with the company for decades.

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Taking the net+ yet again on monday, my butthole is tight

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if it's no trouble to you, i'll take those resources, please. it seems like a good idea to at least have.
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Bump

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Im interested. I hate my job and have been looking for a change, and this sounds interesting. Id be grateful for any resources you can share and any details into how you figured out the pathing you took - beyond whats in the op - going from nothing to acquiring specific certs to where you are now.

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Is this material that could help me in e.g. setting up/managing my home WiFi network?

Sorry if this is a stupid question
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teepan95 posted...

Is this material that could help me in e.g. setting up/managing my home WiFi network?

Not really no.
Home wifi is "plug the thing into the thing" then click a few checkboxes.

having all the certs in the world won't make a difference when you walk through the interviewers door and are automatically deemed unfit for society as soon as they look at you, thank you.

8964752 posted...

Im interested. I hate my job and have been looking for a change, and this sounds interesting. Id be grateful for any resources you can share and any details into how you figured out the pathing you took - beyond whats in the op - going from nothing to acquiring specific certs to where you are now.

I started out just wanting to learn networking in general. I was looking at both the Network+ and the CCENT to start. I chose to go for Cisco certs instead of starting with the Network+ because the Network+ covered stuff from 30 years ago that isn't used any more. I believe they've updated the Network+ exam since then, so I'm not sure if that's still the case.

There are multiple different tracks in Cisco certs that will teach you different aspects of networking. The route/switch (it's called Enterprise now) track teaches you core networking fundamentals and you'll essentially learn how networking works from the ground up. I'd recommend starting with that track and then branching out to other tracks that you think you have interest in.

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teepan95 posted...

Is this material that could help me in e.g. setting up/managing my home WiFi network?

Sorry if this is a stupid question

If you don't understand much about networking in general, this will definitely help you understand what you're doing. Home wifi is very simple compared to enterprise networks, but it can still seem daunting if you just don't understand it.

Even with it being simple compared to enterprise grade networks, I remember it taking my mom and I multiple hours to get home wifi working the first time, lol. After I started studying this stuff and really internalizing the information, I could pretty much set that up in my sleep.

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Nah I'm probably too old at 30

Plus don't women have it bad in tech?

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ChuckSDeuces posted...

Nah I'm probably too old at 30

Plus don't women have it bad in tech?

I started studying this stuff at 27 and I'm 34 now. IT is definitely a male-dominated field, but there are women here and there who do really well. My mentor at my current job is female and pretty much a master at this company's network. She's in her 40s or 50s, I think.

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This is a field where you'll pretty much always be learning any way because new technologies are always coming out.

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Tag for later
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Bump

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blablablax17 posted...

Tag for later

CharlesBronson posted...

having all the certs in the world won't make a difference when you walk through the interviewers door and are automatically deemed unfit for society as soon as they look at you, thank you.

What's this supposed to mean? Are you being self defeatist and just assuming you'll never get anywhere in the world?

I'm interested

For some reason I thought this was going to be about networking like connecting with people.

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gloBal enemy posted...

For some reason I thought this was going to be about networking like connecting with people.

Heh, funny you mention that... One of my goals with getting into this line of work was to have to deal with end users less.

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kind of wish i got into networking a little while ago because i find it interesting, but now my career is heading more into the database / system implementation direction

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bump

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Is self study enough to git gud for the average Joe?

I get out of the military soon so I basically get 36 months of free education when Im done. Would I benefit from any amount of formal instruction?

I got the chance to go to a 10 day Network+ crash course like two years ago and I barely passed with zero background. I feel like most people in the IT industry just stack certs and self study though.

gamer167 posted...

Is self study enough to git gud for the average Joe?

I get out of the military soon so I basically get 36 months of free education when Im done. Would I benefit from any amount of formal instruction?

I got the chance to go to a 10 day Network+ crash course like two years ago and I barely passed with zero background. I feel like most people in the IT industry just stack certs and self study though.

That's how I did it. The important thing is to be able to apply the knowledge you learn from studying to real world situations. Cisco exams are very real-world in the way they test your knowledge. The associate level exams are more theoretical and question/answer. The professional level exams have a lot more labs where you actually demonstrate your skills.

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I wouldn't ever say no to picking up a skill like this

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This is an interesting topic. I'm on the verge of quitting my job cause I'm learning next to nothing, but I have my eyes set on the blockchain industry. Have you been looking into the Fourth Industrial Revolution to see how it would affect your job?

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Sad_Face posted...

This is an interesting topic. I'm on the verge of quitting my job cause I'm learning next to nothing, but I have my eyes set on the blockchain industry. Have you been looking into the Fourth Industrial Revolution to see how it would affect your job?

Haven't heard of the fourth industrial revolution

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CharlesBronson posted...

having all the certs in the world won't make a difference when you walk through the interviewers door and are automatically deemed unfit for society as soon as they look at you, thank you.

Places that actually pay what having "all the certs in the world" don't give a fuck what you look like and may not even make you come into the office.

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CableZL posted...

Heh, funny you mention that... One of my goals with getting into this line of work was to have to deal with end users less.

lol. Did it work out that way or did you just end up with a new group of customers with a different set of difficulties?

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gloBal enemy posted...

lol. Did it work out that way or did you just end up with a new group of customers with a different set of difficulties?

The people I work with are tech savvy enough to do at least the basics of what I need them to do. I no longer deal with people who turn the router off and then call tech support wondering why their internet doesn't work.

The routers I support now are enterprise grade and typically housed in secure cabinets that not everyone has access to.

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CableZL posted...

Haven't heard of the fourth industrial revolution

It's the combination of the adoption of blockchain technology (smart contracts specifically), IoT, and AI. I don't have a condensed version (and I only focus on learning about blockchains specifically), but if you have the time, this hour long lecture by one of Oracle's leading engineers is very good

https://youtu.be/AwVdsTkt22E?t=548

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What's the best way to anonymize yourself on the internet? If it's a VPN, are there any you recommend?

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Your story is very inspiring >_>

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Rob Cesternino posted...

What's the best way to anonymize yourself on the internet? If it's a VPN, are there any you recommend?

A VPN, probably, but I don't use any VPN services outside of work, so it'd be hard to recommend one. If someone needs to look hard enough, they can identify you any way, though, assuming they have the proper access and/or credentials to demand the necessary information.

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